The early launch of Diablo 4’s season 1 patch is live and to say some players are disappointed would be an understatement. The goodwill the development team engendered with their previous patch has seemingly all but plummeted in just hours.
The Diablo 4 Subreddit is currently flooded with complaints about Season of the Malignant’s patch 1.1.0. After just minutes of scrolling it becomes apparent that every post gaining traction is maligning the developers’ decisions.
Nerfs to damage types, skills, affixes, and even the time it takes to exit a dungeon are all fueling discontent. One user has even gone as far as to call this “the worst major patch ever to be released in a video game”.
After a generally positive response to the previous patch 1.0.4, players are walking back previous optimism. “These patch notes are so out of touch with the game it is seriously shocking to me,” one user said.
A major point of contention is how the changes in the patch negatively impact the already struggling Sorcerer class. Nerfs to the class’s core damage skills like Devouring Blaze left some Sorcerer mains incredulous.
“The Sorcerer already had survivability issues, this makes it a glass cannon with a BB gun instead of a cannon,” one user said. General buffs to the game’s enemies and difficulty will impact the class on top of the Sorcerer-specific nerfs.
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Some users have gone as far as accusing Blizzard of artificially bloating the game to compensate for the lack of endgame content. Adjustments to Diablo 4’s Helltides specifically are causing even more irritation with the content than there was already.
Fans on the Subreddit are now threatening to leave the game in droves unless the main issues they have are fixed. The primary concerns are the nerfs to Critical and Vulnerable damage types and the increased cost of Tortured Gifts in Helltides.
Users on Twitter have been testing their builds with the new changes in place and reporting much more difficulty in completing Diablo 4’s endgame content. “I’m a level 90 Rogue and melted enemies on tier 55 NM dungeons. I failed a tier 48 tonight. These nerfs are pretty insane,” one user said.
It should be noted that Season of the Malignant doesn’t begin in earnest until July 20 and its new additions may improve the state of the game. It’s unknown what impact the new Caged Hearts mechanic will have on Diablo 4 but developers have said they’re “stupidly powerful”.
